Why Kulicke & Soffa Industries' Shares Jumped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of semiconductor equipment manufacturer Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NAS: KLIC) rose as much as 21% in early trading after the company reported fiscal-third-quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue, which changes wildly quarter to quarter, fell 13.2% from a year ago to $255.5 million, but was well ahead of the $239.6 million in revenue analysts expected. Earnings per share of $0.90 easily topped Wall Street's $0.67 estimate.

Now what: The company expects fiscal-fourth-quarter revenue to be between $250 million and $270 million, well ahead of the $190 million analysts currently expect, which will likely lead to better earnings per share as well. Shares trade at just 8.9 times trailing earnings after this quarter and it looks like results will continue to be good. I think that will continue to drive shares higher and today's move is just the start.

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